From The Terrace

Bath Rugby analysis from the terrace at The Rec

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Never too high, never too low 💙🖤🤍

[England Rugby Debate @EngRugbyDebate]

Bath are clearly not firing on all cylinders.

But the doom and gloom after yesterday is odd.

Bath without Finn Russell and Bath with Finn Russell are two of the most different beasts you could ever imagine.

One of the best if not the best pickers of a pass in the world. He’s probably worth an extra try every five 22 entries.

Literally the difference between winning and losing matches at this level.

Do they need to up it. Of course.

Is it over? Not by a long way.

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Never nice to lose to Bristol and we need to improve in several areas. But ultimately it comes down to needing to beat Tigers at home- which may well have been the case even if we’d won.

The challenge is helpfully simple now: go full beans and win 3 games.

Keep the faith 💙🖤🤍

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

https://t.co/OyA44o9Q1B

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Team for Bristol 👇

💙 No Finn. Donoghue starts at 10. He’s more than capable of running the game

🖤 Mobile back row all designed to slow their ball down

🤍 The du Toit off the bench strategy seems over - it’s a first pick front row from the start now.

Massive game. Very little margin for error now - time to get back on it #COYB

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

BATH 69 - 12 NEWCASTLE

Never a serious contest but job done. Quite flat in third quarter but we turned it on in last 20. Arundell electric - both wings looking really sharp. Ted Hill excellent. Wonderful cameo from Max.

Good to get back to winning ways. Now for a rest before a big month 💙🖤🤍

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Niche observation from today was how much TCS’s kicking has improved. Some really accurate box kicks when he came on

[andrew sheridan @radio_sheri]

1/2Another take away for me today was how Tom Carr-Smith injects much needed pace that energises the team. He gets better by the week. Again as we approach the business end of a very long campaign I can’t see the style @bathrugby a slow structured power game with the kick chase

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

@TheBathExile @briavelsjon That makes sense. I also have a hunch that Sale might beat Leicester this weekend. No reason to believe it based on form but Sale are due a performance and Tigers will struggle to reach the level from last weekend two weeks in a row

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Team for Newcastle 👇

💙 Really surprised by how strong this is. Expected far more rotation (only Lawrence and Kepu really rested?). But I suppose next week gives the time to rest

🤍 Great to see Max back, and some minutes for Cam. Having one of them at 12 is so key for our attack

🖤 We need a statement win to get back on track #COYB

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

@briavelsjon @TheBathExile I don’t disagree, that makes sense. Was just surprised more than anything

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Gutting for Horse after he looked back towards his best against Saints and Bordeaux.

More encouraging about Max and Hennessey though 🤞🏼

https://t.co/V9f5zoXjZ2

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Saturday’s results make today a huge opportunity for Bath. A BP win would take us top, with breathing space to third and all but sew up a play-off place.

It’s going to be a properly tough test but this (and our last two games) should mean we have no shortage of motivation #COYB

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Team for Sunday 👇

💙 Really the look of this. Great to have Cam and Big Joe back

🖤 5-3 split but tonnes of power on the bench. Interesting who will cover 8 - will we see Ted Hill there? (Or even Kepu?)

🤍 Butt and Lawrence key at 12-13

This feels like a really important game. A third loss in a row puts pressure on the run-in. But a win gives us breathing space and (with Newcastle next) allows us to give first-teamers two weeks off before Bristol, Leicester and the play-offs. Reckon we’ll be raring to go after last week #COYB

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Think the biggest learning from Bordeaux is decision-making. We sometimes kept it tight too long (20+ phases), sometimes went wide too quickly (on 2nd/3rd phase), and too often picked and went without support. There’s a separate challenge around execution in key moments, especially at the lineout.

But if we use Sunday’s experience to sharpen our decision-making (and there’s no one I’d rather have making those calls than Spence and Finn), that’ll be the biggest positive takeaway for the Prem run-in

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

Amid all the noise, shoutout to Louie Hennessey who was superb in the biggest game of his career. The future is bright

[Andy Goode @AndyGoode10]

Breaking down what happened with the French TV director, the ref, the TMO and me on comms for the game on our podcast @TheRugbyPod

[Harry Jones @haribaldijones]

So which is it?

Did officials have all the angles they needed and not look at them, or not demand them of the producers?

Or did the producers in Bordeaux not produce all the angles expected in a massive semi-final?

I keep hearing contradictory assertions by people I trust.

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

@MacSheoinin_ @Ed_Dodgson https://t.co/IaryN3RHXz

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

“There’s been lots of people on social media saying: ‘of course they get the [TV] angles’. They don’t. There is a TV director employed, in this case by FranceTV who broadcast the game in France, who is the gatekeeper of the clips and he or she can decide which ones go to the TMO. That is what was in place yesterday.”

Recommend listening to the full explanation and discussion (18’30” to 34’15”) from @willgkelleher @AlfredReynolds5 and @CharlieFelix, which is balanced and insightful as ever. Regardless of your bias, this inconsistency can’t be good for an elite sport.

🎧 https://t.co/bksNRpZZ90

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

“No clear head contact” #UBBvBAT

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

“There’s been lots of people on social media saying: ‘of course they get the [TV] angles’. They don’t. There is a TV director employed, in this case by FranceTV who broadcast the game in France, who is the gatekeeper of the clips and he or she can decide which ones go to the TMO. That is what was in place yesterday.”

Recommend listening to the full explanation and discussion (18’30” to 34’15”) from @willgkelleher @AlfredReynolds5 and @CharlieFelix, which is balanced and insightful as ever. Regardless of your bias, this inconsistency can’t be good for an elite sport.

🎧 https://t.co/bksNRpZZ90

[From The Terrace @RecTerrace]

* To be clear, we didn’t lose because of the refereeing *

But it’s mad that we didn’t look at two high shots on Barbeary, two decisive knock-on calls, a completely different threshold was applied for red zone yellows, and TV replays overturned some decisions but not others. The TV director genuinely played a bigger role in that game than the actual TMO.

It makes rugby look amateur #UBBvBAT

[John Evely @JohnEvely_BPost]

JvG shares his immense frustration at missed high tackles during Bath’s defeat to Bordeaux-Begles